Book Club Experience

My book club experience did not quite go as planned. I was meant to attend the program as just a regular patron to gauge discussion in that frame. Only about a week before book club night, my colleague who was going to be working at the Reference Desk that evening realized that she had a schedule conflict, and I was the only one available to cover. At this point, the plan was for me to work the desk and zoom into the book club meeting happening two floors down.

…And then Monday afternoon--five hours before the start of the book club--my colleague who hosts book club called in sick, so it fell to me to somehow run book club via zoom from the upstairs desk. So, I set everything up for our book club around 6:30 while trying to make sure that everything else in the building was running smoothly because the Reference Librarian is Person-In-Charge at night. Needless to say, it was a stressful night!

As for what set up looks like, we brew a pot of coffee, provide water, and typically have snacks of some sort--this month it was cookies. I got a zoom meeting going between a staff laptop and the Reference PC. I also printed out multiple copies of the discussion questions that the actual host had prepared. 

Now onto the book club meeting itself:

We had five patrons come to this month’s meeting. There has been a steady decline in attendance which is a little concerning. A lot of our regular patrons skipped this month which seemed strange because the book was Killers of the Flower Moon. I do know that at least one patron had said last month that we’d get a lot more participation if we selected “fluffier” books. Seeing as the book is All the Light We Cannot See, I don’t know if that’s advice we’re planning on taking.

Right away the patrons dominated the conversation with the opening discussion focused on the differences between the book and the movie. As I had not watched the movie, I was content to listen to their thoughts and offer commentary when I could. They felt that without the movie, the book would not have been as popular. I found this interesting because I feel like with fiction novels and their media adaptations, the book usually already has a pretty strong fanbase and following, but it makes sense that nonfiction would need an additional incentive to ‘go viral’ so to speak. Their biggest criticism of the film was that it did not accurately capture the full scope of this story’s tragedy and the mistreatment of the Osage people. I think that’s because the narrative writing in the book does a phenomenal job of setting William Hale and Ernest Burkhart as trustworthy and honorable men, so it is that much more devastating when the case is cracked. Films pull off betrayal very well, but they lose a lot of the nuance and subtlety found in written works.

The other particularly interesting--and almost explosive--discussion was when some of the book club started debating whether or not the crimes and murders were racially motivated. One lady was adamant in arguing that it had nothing to do with race and was entirely concerned with finances and greed. Very quickly another patron disagreed, saying that even if that were true, it would have been much easier for these men to target a marginalized group like the Osage. Thankfully, everyone kept their behaviors in check and the discussion moved on. Still, it was a bit bemusing to me that someone could read about these horrific events and claim that it had nothing to do with race. 

When I eventually went back downstairs to help them wrap up, one of the patrons hung around while I cleaned up. He was disappointed a bit in the group conversation and wanted to hear more about what I thought about the book. We discussed the other tragedy of the story, overshadowed by the true crime, in regards to the calculated efforts of the United States to eradicate indigenous cultures and the loss of language. It is possible that if I had been able to sit in the room and moderate book club, that we would have made it to this conversation in the large group setting, but I am glad at least that this patron was still able to have a meaningful discussion over a topic from the book that he felt was especially important. 

Generally I think book clubs are valuable because each member brings different reading experiences to the conversation and it allows for community building, but there is also an element of frustration for some members who want to have in-depth analytical conversations and intellectual debates. I hosted our book club discussion over Slaughterhouse-Five a few months ago and had to bite my tongue every time they complained about the fact that the plot wasn’t linear and how unenjoyable the book was to read as a result. It was just a tad bit infuriating for me to listen to as someone who has written many many essays about Vonnegut. 

I can’t say I’m in a hurry to host the book club again any time soon, but I’m always willing to help out with it. I’m not sure what books are picked out for the year, but hopefully we can get attendance back up with better promotion of the program and more variety in the books selected!

Special Topics Paper

 New Adult Fiction is a developing genre in the literary and publishing worlds. St. Martin’s Press is credited with the term’s introduction when they sponsored a contest for new fiction featuring “protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to an adult audience” in November 2009.

Since then, New Adult Fiction has grown as a genre and publishing field, but is still not widely recognized by many booksellers, libraries, and other sources of literature. Consequently, without clear distinctions between Young Adult (YA), New Adult (NA), and Adult Fictions, the blending of these audiences is damaging their literary forms.

There are two obvious sources of this blending. One is the authors themselves as they experiment with their writing and attempt to reach new audiences. The other source is the marketing of these materials. Publishers are aiming their marketing campaigns towards the individuals with greater buying power--adults--which is exacerbating the issue of more adult readers consuming YA material than the original intended teenage audience.

Ultimately this blending of audience and genre is especially problematic when examining the presence of adult sexual content in a literary space designed for young adult readers. As platforms like BookTok have increased their viewership of book recommendations, content creators have noted a very clear trend concerning adult women readers entering this young adult space and desiring this mature content as opposed to reading erotica novels or other adult genres.

It is unclear as to why adults are not seeking out the literature that is intended for them, but it could be a consequence of nation-wide changes to educational core standards which saw a massive decrease in the attention paid to skills associated with the liberal arts, one of which is reading comprehension.

This essay intends to examine the rise of New Adult Fiction and the blending occurring across the field due to the actions of authors, publishers, and marketing professionals. From there it will delve into the risks and dangers of such merging and the potential causes for why this merge has and continues to occur. 

Prompt Response Three

Our online catalog allows us to build digital displays called Showcases where we can go in and select which books we want to be on the homepage of the catalog. For February, I’ve been curating one called ‘Discover New Romance’ and have been adding exclusively newly released romance titles. 

I think a great physical display would be one that matches books to movies and tv shows; the ‘If you liked this…you should try this…’ kind of thing. I think another really interesting type of integrated advisory is when music is included. Some authors will post to their social media the playlists they were listening to as they wrote parts of their books. I think it would be a really cool display to match romance books to various music albums or songs. Soft sweet romance novels would fit with “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” the fun, fast-paced romances could be “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” and the teenage angst romance would fit the album Sour.

I think it broadens the availability of novels to choose from because it is less about plot points and more about aesthetics. Saying that a book reminds you of a song is far more subjective and may lead to some creative interaction. It could be a passive program of sorts where we build the display to say ‘What Song Does this Romance Novel Remind Me Of’ and as the books get checked out, patrons can add their song to the board.

Kirkus Style Review

    Billy Pilgrim was a completely ordinary American, until he became unstuck in time. 

In a novel sweeping decades, Billy Pilgrim’s experience in World War II dominates the narrative, as it is in 1944 that he first becomes unstuck in time. Stationed to be a chaplain’s assistant, Billy never met the chaplain he was assigned to, and instead was left wandering behind German lines with three others. Eventually they are taken as prisoners of war, and this takes them to Dresden. It is this plot point that establishes Slaughterhouse-Five as the testimony of Kurt Vonnegut and his attempt to make sense of human atrocity. The existence of the Tralfamadorians and their relationship with Billy Pilgrim also runs through the entirety of the novel. They introduce Billy to a new ideology that conflicts with the traditional concepts of time and meaning and free will, an ideology that Billy wrestles with in his attempt to embrace it. 

An astounding homage to the human experience and celebration of humanity.

Prompt Response Two

The perception of eBooks and eBook exclusive content is very interesting. In some ways, it has been super helpful for up-and-coming authors--they release a free version of their debut book and then subsequent ones cost money so if they win over their readers, they’ll have dedicated customers as well. In other ways, for traditional physical book readers, it’s frustrating because there may be books they want to read that just can't be accessed, like the Amazon Kindle exclusive releases. The debate surrounding artificial scarcity in relation to eBooks and eMaterial is also very interesting and impacts a library’s ability to provide eContent. Many patrons express their displeasure with the long hold times on Libby, but without buying multiple copies of the same eBook, there isn’t really a way for us to improve the system. 

I actually have very little insight into how we purchase eBooks or even what eBooks we purchase for the collection. I actually just requested the report for titles we own from our selection team earlier this week, so I should be getting that information soon, and I’m curious to see if it will be primarily eBook and eAudiobook versions of the popular bestsellers which is my prediction. 

The romance novel The Billionaire's First Christmas sounds like a Hallmark Christmas movie as a book. This doesn’t surprise me as a lot of the Hallmark Christmas movies are actually books first. These movies circulate fairly well at my library, so I could see similar books circulating too. That being said, I’m not sure how well this particular eBook would do against Debbie Macomber’s work or the other big name authors. As far as the reviews go, I do think they are reliable. That being said, I also think they both come from readers who are already inclined to read books of this genre which colors opinions as well. 

In regards to Angela’s Ashes, the fact that it has been reviewed by so many of the major review sources makes me inclined to think that it would do well in my library (I actually did pull up its item record and it has a lifetime circulation count of 73, with 2 of those being in the previous year). One of my tasks is to examine our Dead On Arrival rate at my library, and I’ve noticed that nothing seems to circulate as well as the best-selling titles. A telling indicator of a best-seller, is the number of professional reviews it has. However, if we hadn’t already owned this book, I would not have advocated for putting it on a purchase order. Seeing as it was published in 1996, I don’t think I could justify ordering it now. The same would be true if it ends up on our weeding list (we are in the midst of an intensive adult nonfiction weed), I would not recommend ordering a replacement copy. 

I’ve actually never cared much for book reviews. It’s a little funny because I’ll read a book, not enjoy it, and then go look for book reviews to see if other readers had the same opinion I did. I always have that hindsight thought of ‘oh, if I had looked for reviews before reading this book, I could’ve saved myself the time of reading it,’ but despite that reflection, I don’t do anything differently the next time. With that being my main purpose in reading reviews, I definitely feel like negative reviews are important! For instance, I am seriously offended by Erin Young’s thriller The Fields which has so many reviews but is a horrible portrayal of Iowa and Iowans. I combed through reviews looking for other people who recognized those issues (AND I just found out she wrote a sequel because it arrived in a brand new Baker & Taylor box on Friday … seven pages in and she had already written something problematic about Iowa). 

I think part of the distaste I have for reviews is that the field is oversaturated with a very specific type of book just as the prompt says. It’s so obvious that I feel like I can unpack a box of new releases at the library and point out which ones probably have professional reviews. The selection in our library has been outsourced via our contract with the company LibraryIQ which means I am not privy to the exact methods the team uses to select titles. I have noticed that we receive the majority of the books that are featured in BookPage Magazine, so I’m assuming that our selector is looking at reviews to some extent. But, our Dead On Arrival rate has increased this year, so as we move into budget season, we’re trying to identify where we need to make changes in our selection. 

Secret Shopper

 I felt that the best way to complete this assignment was to go with my younger sister to the public library in her city, which is about an hour away from mine. She is a very picky reader, so I knew that it would take longer to find something for her to read than it would for myself. Lately, she has been a nonfiction trend after reading Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond. 

I thought that this would be a really interesting example for Reader's Advisory because nonfiction topics are very nuanced. My sister is working on her undergraduate degree in social work. This book was interesting to her because it focused on the ways cities and their zoning and housing rules have created a way for poverty to persist and thrive. The goal of our visit was to find more books that examine this very specific topic.

Right away, the librarian suggested Desmond's most recent book, Poverty, By America which my sister had expressed interest in. But it was clear to the librarian that my sister was looking for something more specific than that, and she did a wonderful job of engaging my sister in a conversation to reach the heart of her book request as we had settled on as our goal. Once that was shared, the book recommendations my sister left with were Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It by M. Nolan Gray and The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein. 

Prompt Response One

 1. I am looking for a book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I just read the third book in the Anita Blake series and I can’t figure out which one comes next!

So then you just finished Circus of the Damned right? The next book you want is The Lunatic Cafe. One great resource we have linked on our library website is called NoveList. When I searched for Laurell Hamilton, I got a list of all the books she has written. In addition, I was able to look at all the series she has written, which is where I found the books in the Anita Blake series in order! Would you like me to print you the list for next time?

2. What have I read recently? Well, I just finished this great book by Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer. I really liked the way it was written, you know, the way she used language. I wouldn't mind something a bit faster paced though.

Using the NoveList database that you have access to with your library card, it’s linked on our website, I searched for Barbara Kingsolver’s Prodigal Summer. It describes the writing style as descriptive, lyrical, and lush. It’s said to have a romantic and thought-provoking tone. Are those some terms you’d use? From there, I did a search for books with descriptive and lyrical writing, plus a fast-pace. 

Ann Leckie’s novel Translation State matched those terms, but with the tone descriptions of dramatic and thought-provoking. If you’re looking for something with that romantic feel, Paula McLain’s Love and Ruin might be a better choice as its writing style is also lyrical and richly detailed.

3. I like reading books set in different countries. I just read one set in China, could you help me find one set in Japan? No, not modern – historical. I like it when the author describes it so much it feels like I was there!

One that immediately comes to mind is Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha. It makes the recommended reading lists for AP English students on a regular basis which is where I first encountered it. I haven’t read it yet myself, but I have a copy! 

Fifty Words for Rain by Asha Lemmie might be another title of interest for you. I used the search functions in the NoveList database to look for historical fiction in Kyoto, Japan. The tone is said to be “heart wrenching” but that the writing style is compelling. 

4. I read this great mystery by Elizabeth George called Well-Schooled in Murder and I loved it. Then my dentist said that if I liked mysteries I would probably like John Sandford, but boy was he creepy I couldn't finish it! Do you have any suggestions?

Well, first things first, would you like to read more of Elizabeth George? The title you just finished is actually the fourth in a series about Thomas Lynley. The next book you’d be looking for is called For the Sake of Elena. 

In the case of something new, one read-a-like author that our database NoveList suggested is Louise Penny. Her mysteries are described as “intricate and quirky” with a hopeful tone. So, likely not as creepy as John Sandford!

5. My husband has really gotten into zombies lately. He’s already read The Walking Dead and World War Z, is there anything else you can recommend?

When I searched on NoveList for similar books to those titles, I got The Zombie Autopsies by Steven Schlozman and The Last of Us: American Dreams by Neil Druckmann. 

The Zombie Autopsies is written as though it is a journal kept by a CDC biologist as he investigates and searches for a cure to the zombie apocalypse. Druckmann’s work, The Last of Us: American Dreams takes place in the same world as the hit video game of the same title. This story is set as a prequel to that game meant to provide more backstory to Ellie. It isn’t a traditional prose novel though, it is a graphic novel so that might be something different!

6. I love books that get turned into movies, especially literary ones. Can you recommend some? Nothing too old, maybe just those from the last 5 years or so.

I suppose I’d like to clarify a little about what you mean by too old. Are you looking for books that were published in the last five years, adaptations that were released in the last five years, or both? 

I only ask this because works like Edgar Allen Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher and Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw were both published in the 1800s, but Netflix recently adapted the two works for modern miniseries, with The Haunting of Bly Manor premiering in 2020 and The Fall of the House of Usher in October of 2023. 

Here’s one where both the adaptation and book are newer. In 2022, Hulu adapted Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s 2019 novel Fleishman is in Trouble for a drama miniseries. The NoveList database calls this book a work of literary fiction that is complex and sardonic. 

7. I love thrillers but I hate foul language and sex scenes. I want something clean and fast paced

One of my go-to thriller authors is Catherine Coulter. I’ve read The Cove which I believe was the first of her FBI thrillers, and have read most of her Brit in the FBI series which starts with the title The Final Cut. I’ll admit, these aren’t recent reads for me, but I remember them being clean aside from the occasional bad word here or there. Coulter got her start as a romance author, so some of her titles may cross into that territory. 

Can you tell me more about what it is in thrillers that you like? I wonder if cozy mysteries might be something you’d enjoy as well. They’re usually quick, fast reads with an endearing cast of characters. Most of the time there is some element of romance, but it’s very mild and never gets graphic. 

Part Two:

Up until very recently, the number one way I found books to read was just by going to my city’s Barnes & Noble and browsing the shelves and displays there. I probably visited the bookstore every other week or so. This changed because I moved to a new city that doesn’t have a Barnes & Noble. The nearest one is only about forty-five minutes away, but I can’t justify going as often as I used to. Target was my other go-to store to browse at, but I no longer have one of those in town either! 

But no fear, it worked out because the reason I moved was because I was offered a job at the library here. Since I oversee all of the new books that come in, I get to see what new titles are released and what’s been popular. If I notice something that I really want to read, I’ll usually order myself a copy…. from Barnes & Noble of course! 

I also really enjoy flipping through the BookPage magazine, but I don’t think I usually end up reading many of the books that they feature. Every once and awhile a title stands out to me though which is why I continue to grab the latest issue!